Mothering Sunday

What I lovely day today has been. Not the weather, that's been rather dull, but the day itself. It's been one of those lovely rolling days that just drifts by allowing for fun and business but also calm and relaxation. Arrrr......

The children woke me up a minute before my alarm with token gifts and cards as signs of their appreciation of my efforts. Handmade trinkets and vouchers for massages..... shall look forwards to cashing those in!

A hand warmer, card and 2.5hr massage voucher from the Little Lady, two beautifully handmade bracelets, a card and a Hama bead photo frame complete with fun photo from Miss P, oh and a further 2 hr back massage voucher and a picture and army coloured loom band bracelet from Small Boy. Such thoughtful children :-)

This morning we headed off to church for the 'All age worship' service, it's always especially lovely on Mothering Sunday. This morning we were armed with 62 mother's of the gingerbread kind all decorated with love and arranged in rows on trays ready to sell.

We host a little cake sale after the family service every month and the proceeds of our sale goes towards the sponsorship of a young eight year old boy called Ravi who lives with his family in India.
We've been doing this as a family for about eight years now. It came about when Miss P was little and as a mother I wanted her to learn about others in the world, especially those in countries less well developed than our own. Back then it cost just £18 a month to sponsor a child, with over 80% of the donations going directly to the needs of the children who are part of the project. It's not a huge amount of money when you break it down into daily increments but to us at the time it wasn't something I felt I could commit too due to our low income. So we put it to our congregation and asked them if they would help us. I committed to bake cakes every month and pay for the ingredients and the proceeds of the sale sponsor the child.
For seven years we sponsored a young girl called Tina who lived in Bangladesh. She wrote to us and told us about her life. She seemed very happy but extremely poor financially compared to us in the UK. When we sent her £10 for her birthday, she was able to buy a goat, chickens, a new dress and books. Amazing!
Upon reaching fourteen, Tina moved away from the area to an area no longer supported by the project we were funding, the financial help that we provided gave her food, education, medical care and religious teaching. Now we are helping Ravi, the monthly fee has also risen to £24, not much per day but in a third world country it can stretch a long way. To find out more visit Compassion UK it's a worthy cause.
During the service, all of the females were given a small bouquet of flowers and foliage, a lovely gesture. I did have to shut my son up upon heading back to the car though. He announced that the bouquets were dead and that the flowers had been taken from someones grave! I questioned his story and he informed me that there were several other similar flowers in the bin.......honestly, that boy!!

From church to my favourite cafe of the moment. The wonderful strawbale cafe at The
Whichford pottery. I knew it would be busy today and imagined we'd have to wait for a table, but as luck would have it our absolute favourite spot on the sofas right next to the wood stove were free :-). It was meant to be! So we spent an hour or so loving our surroundings, chatting, eating the scrumilitious food and me....I found myself totally engrossed in a book on Transition Britain. Food for thought and then proceeded to figure out how the cafe could actually be my home! Oh yes, I've got it all worked out. It would be amazing. An open plan living area downstairs with kitchen at one end and perhaps an added bathroom area/shed on the back and a mezzanine floor area in the roof space to house our low level beds.......dreaming again. I find the place so grounding and peaceful even when it is bustling with chattering mummy's!

Back home for an afternoon of relaxation. Everyone was busy doing their own things, it's perfectly lovely!

Oh, and homemade pizza for tea........

......and entertainment in the form of an air show!

I have to say that I struggle with days like today. Not because I'm n old grump, it's just that I feel we should take time to make our mother's feel special and loved everyday and it's not just mother's. There are many folk in this world who aren't mother's and may never be so but still play a huge part in the role of being carers for children and adults in someway. They should be recognised too :-)

Hope you've had a wonderful day folks!